Many women are familiar with the symptoms of a urinary tract infection or UTI. It usually starts with a persistent urge to urinate or a burning sensation when you pee. You also can have blood in the urine, cloudy, strong-smelling urine, or pain in the lower part of your abdomen. About 50 percent of women will have a urinary tract infection at some time during their lives. The female-to-male ratio for urinary tract infections is about 30:1.

Why are women so blessed with this uncomfortable gift while men are spared?

Everyone’s urine is sterile and meant to stay that way. The difference between women and men begins with the urethra, the tube through which urine leaves the body. The urethra is shorter in women than in men, thus making it easier for bacteria to travel the wrong way up this one-way street. The urethra also is located closer to the rectum in women, and there are more bacteria in this area that can find their way into the bladder. Sexual activity can also push bacteria into the sterile urine.

The medical term for bladder infections is cystitis. If there is a lot of blood with a urine infection, we call it hemorrhagic cystitis. There’s even a special variety, “honeymoon cystitis,” which refers to the urine infections that women get on their honeymoon from frequent and prolonged sexual intercourse.

Luckily, there are some ways to help prevent urinary tract infections. Women should always urinate after sexual intercourse, wipe themselves from front to back, and empty their bladders fully when they go to the bathroom. Proving once again that a woman’s work is never done. Men only tend to get their infections when they are older as the prostate grows and causes a blockage of the urinary flow.